Diverse Culture of New York City

New York City’s people make up about half the population of the larger New York State, most of which belong to major ethnic groups – about 52% are white, though non-Hispanic whites are not in the majority overall. Blacks count for around 29% of the people, and Asians 7%. Hispanic people of all races make […]

New York City Blacks

New York City has a black population of around two million. African slaves were first shipped to New York in 1644, when the city was still part of the Dutch colony called New Netherlands. There were around 2000 blacks in New York by the time of the War of Independence from Britain, the black slaves […]

New York City Hispanics

About half of New York City’s 1.8 million Hispanic residents are of Puerto Rican descent, the island has been a US possession since 1898, and its people have been US citizens since 1917. They began migrating here from the island in significant numbers during the Depression and began displacing Italians in East Harlem. As citizens, […]

New York City Jews

New York City has the oldest and largest Jewish community in North America. More than one third of all the Jews in the United States live in New York. Almost 2 million Jews live in New York City, which is the principal port of entry and site of settlement for new Jewish immigrants to the […]

Racial Unease in New York City

David Dinkins, former New York mayor, once described the city as being a ‘gorgeous mosaic’ of differing people, which it is, but things have not always run so smoothly between the different ethnic groups. The main racial problems have arisen from a growing level of mistrust between New York’s African American population and other ethnic […]

New York City Language

There are hundreds of words that have filtered into American English via the languages of foreign immigrants. New York City is the most popular point of arrival for immigrants so, as you’d imagine, all kinds of words have been added to the local language as well as being absorbed into the American language as a […]